The tobacco art has long recognized the desirability of expanding tobacco to increase the bulk or volume of tobacco. There have been various reasons for expanding tobacco. One of the early purposes for expanding tobacco involved making up the loss of weight caused by the tobacco curing process. Another purpose was to improve the smoking characteristics of particular tobacco components, namely tobacco stems. It has also been desired to increase the filling power of tobacco so that a smaller amount of tobacco would be required to produce a smoking product, such as a cigarette, which would have the same firmness and yet would produce lower tar and nicotine than the comparable smoking product made of non-expanded tobacco having a more dense tobacco filler.
Various methods have been proposed for expanding tobacco, including the impregnation of tobacco with a gas under pressure and the subsequent release of the pressure, whereby the gas causes expansion of the tobacco cells to increase the volume of the treated tobacco. Other methods which have been employed or suggested have included the treatment of tobacco with various liquids, such as water or relatively volatile organic liquids, to impregnate the tobacco with the same, after which the liquids are driven off to expand the tobacco. Additional methods which have been suggested have included the treatment of tobacco with solid materials which, when heated, decompose to produce gases which serve to expand the tobacco. Other methods include the treatment of tobacco with gas-containing liquids, such as carbon dioxide-containing water, under pressure to incorporate the gas in the tobacco and when the tobacco impregnated therewith is heated or the pressure thereon is reduced to thereby expand the tobacco. Additional techniques have been developed for expanding tobacco which involve the treatment of tobacco with gases which react to form solid chemical reaction products within the tobacco, which solid reaction products may then decompose by heat to produce gases within the tobacco which cause expansion of the tobacco upon their release. More specifically:
A patent to Wilford J. Hawkins, U.S. Pat. No. 1,789,435, granted in 1931, describes a method and apparatus for expanding the volume of tobacco in order to make up the loss of weight caused in curing tobacco leaf. To accomplish this object, the cured and conditioned tobacco is contacted with a gas, which may be air, carbon dioxide or steam under pressure and the pressure is then relieved, whereby the tobacco tends to expand. The patent states that the volume of the tobacco may, by that process, be increased to the extent of about 5-15%.
An alien property custodian document No. 304,214 to Joachim Bohme, dated 1943, indicates that tobacco can be expanded using a high frequency generator but that there are limitations to the degree of expansion which can be achieved without affecting the quality of the tobacco.
A patent to Frank J. Sowa, U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,183, granted in 1952, sets forth a method for increasing the volume of shredded tobacco by adding additional water to the tobacco to cause the tobacco to swell and thereafter heating the moisture containing tobacco, whereby the moisture evaporates and the resulting moisture vapor causes expansion of the tobacco.
A series of patents to Roger Z. de la Burde, one of the present coinventors, granted in 1968, specifically U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,409,022, 3,409,023, 3,409,027, and 3,409,028, relate to various processes for enhancing the utility of tobacco stems for use in smoking products by subjecting the stems to expansion operations utilizing various types of heat treatment or microwave energy.
A patent to John D. Hind, granted in 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,425, which is assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of the present invention, relates to the use of carbohydrates to improve the puffing of tobacco stems. In that process, tobacco stems are soaked in an aqueous solution of carbohydrates and then heated to puff the stems. The carbohydrate solution may also contain organic acids and/or certain salts which are used to improve the flavor and smoking qualities of the stems.
A publication in the "Tobacco Reporter" of November 1969 by P. S. Meyer describes and summarizes tobacco puffing or expansion procedure or investigations for expanding and manipulating tobacco for purposes of reducing costs and also as the means for reducing the "tar" content by reduction in the delivery of smoke. Mention is made in this publication of puffing tobacco by different procedures including the use of halogenated hydrocarbons, low pressure or vacuum operation, or high pressure steam treatment that causes leaf expansion from inside the cell when outside pressure is suddenly released. Mention is also made in this publication of freeze-drying tobacco which can also be employed to obtain an increase in volume.
Since the above-mentioned "Tobacco Reporter" article was published, a number of tobacco expansion techniques, including some of the techniques described in the article, have been described in patents and/or published patent applications. For example:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,452 to Glenn P. Moser et al and U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,451 to James D. Frederickson, both issued in 1970, relate to the expansion of tobacco using a volatile organic liquid, such as a halogenated hydrocarbon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,104 to William M. Buchanan et al, which is assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of the present invention, issued in 1973, relates to a particular process for the expansion of tobacco stems.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,803 to William H. Johnson, issued in 1973 and British Specification No. 1,293,735 to American Brands Inc., published in 1972, both relate to freeze drying methods for expanding tobacco.
South African application Nos. 70/8291 and 70/8292 to R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, both issued in 1970, relate to tobacco expansion employing chemical compounds which decompose to form a gas or with inert solutions of a gas under pressure to maintain the gas in solution until it impregnates the tobacco.
A patent to Robert G. Armstrong et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,533, issued in 1973, which is assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of the present invention, involves a treatment of tobacco with carbon dioxide and ammonia gases, whereby the tobacco is saturated with these gases and ammonium carbonate is formed in situ. The ammonium carbonate is thereafter decomposed by heat to release the gases within the tobacco cells and to cause expansion of the tobacco.
Despite all of the above-described advances in the art, no completely satisfactory process has been found. The difficulty with the various earlier suggestions for expanding tobacco is that, in many cases, the volume is only slightly or at best only moderately increased, noting for example, the 15% expansion as the maximum achieved by freeze drying, this type of operation has the disadvantages of requiring elaborate and expensive equipment and very substantial operating costs. With respect to the teaching of using heat energy, infrared or radiant microwave energy to expand tobacco stems, the difficulty is that while stems respond to these heating procedures, tobacco leaf has not generally been found to respond effectively to this type of process.
The use of special expanding agents, for example, halogenated hydrocarbons, such as are mentioned in the Meyer publication for expanding tobacco, is also not completely satisfactory because these substances are generally required to volatilize or remove the substances after the tobacco has been expanded. The introduction, in considerable concentration, of materials which are foreign to tobacco presents the problem of removing the expansion agent after the treatment has been completed in order to avoid affecting aroma and other properties of the smoke due to extraneous substances used or developed from the combustion of the treated tobacco.
The use of solid chemicals to produce a gas upon decomposition has not been found satisfactory, perhaps due to the fact that the chemicals cannot be incorporated in the cells of the tobacco.
The use of carbonated water has also not been found to be effective.
While the method employing ammonia and carbon dioxide gases is an improvement over the earlier described methods, it is not completely satisfactory and can result, under some circumstances, in undesired deposition of ammonium carbonate during the process.
The present process employing liquid carbon dioxide, as described hereinafter, has been found to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art processes and provides an improved method for expanding tobacco.
Carbon dioxide has been used in the food industry as a coolant and, more recently, has been suggested as an extractant for food flavors. It has also been described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,142,205 (Anmeldetag; Aug. 23, 1971) for use, in either gaseous or liquid form, to extract aromatic materials from tobacco. However, there has been no suggestion, in connection with these uses, of the use of liquid carbon dioxide for the expansion of these materials.